4 month with NW

[sandee33]

Hello there!  So, my almost 4 month old baby has consistently waken up at 3 am pretty much every night and lately with me moving up her bedtime up she starts waking up around 1:30 and then wakes up almost every hour until I feed her at 5:30. It seems like she can sleep a good solid 5 hours before stirring around with NW.   I have not done a middle of the night feeding in at least 8 weeks, I usually can pop her pacifier in her mouth and she will go back to sleep.  However, I do not want to keep waking up every hour to keep putting her pacifier in her mouth! LOL  She does awesome during the day and takes two 2-3 hour naps and one 45 minute nap in the evening.  I dropped the DF because it didn't make a difference if she had it or not she would still wake up, plus she would only eat 1-2 oz. at the DF.  She takes full feedings all throughout the day of 6 ozs. about every 3 to 4 hours (depending on how long she naps).  My 2 year old daughter was a text book BabyWise baby and started STTN by 9 weeks and never had NW so this is all new to me! Here is a snapshot of her daily schedule:

8:30: morning wake up
8:40- 6 oz. bottle
10:00: nap
12:30: 6 oz. bottle
2:30: nap
5:00: 6 oz. bottle
6:30: nap
7:15: playtime
8:00-8:30: 6 oz. bottle

She normally will eat a EF at 5:30 ish (6 oz. bottle) and then go back to sleep for another 3 hours.

So, what would you recommend for the NW?  I was thinking that maybe I should feed her at 3 and then hope she sleeps until about 7, which is when I would like her morning waketime to be anyways.  Or do you think I should continue with just the pacifier even though I have been doing that for at least 8 weeks and she is still waking up??  I'm thinking she might just be hungry and isn't quite ready to STTN?? 

Thanks for any help!! 

[becj86]

I'm thinking she might just be hungry and isn't quite ready to STTN?? 

I'd have to agree - waking every hour indicates hunger/pain and in this case, I'd be tipping hunger so feeding her when she wakes should prevent the multiple wakings.

It seems like she can sleep a good solid 5 hours before stirring around with NW. 

This is a good stretch, I'd just feed after that. Keep in mind there's a massive growth spurt at 4 months too, so you could be seeing that

[sandee33]

Thank you!  It is always good to have some reassurance! 

[Erin M]

Yes, it's also not unusual for babies to drop and pick night feeds back up at this age -- their bodies are doing some astonishing amounts of growing and developing at this age and they need the calories to support that!

[sandee33]

So the last couple of nights I have been waiting to feed her until at least 3 am because once she is fed she will only sleep another 3 maybe 4 hours.  Both of my girls were like this, once they did their long stretch of sleep and got fed they would start their 3 hour feedings, even if it is still nighttime.  Here is my problem, she actually starts waking up around 1:00-1:30, which is about 5 hours after she has been in my bed.  I really don't want to feed her that early because then she will want to eat again at 4:00ish.  I have even tried doing a DF around 10 or 10:30 and she might drink 2 ozs.  She will still wake up around 1ish.  I feel like I have a newborn again!!!  It just seems like she should be able to go longer than 5 hours without needing to eat?!! Should I feed her at 1:00 or keep doing what I have been doing which is give her paci and try to hold her out until at least 3 or so?  So frustrating!!  Thanks for your suggestions!!

[becj86]

Honestly, I'd do two night feeds, at 1 and 4 - totally normal at this age with a growth spurt going on. If she has dropped NF's before, she'll drop them again. You will get more sleep that way too, rather than up every 30min to replug a dummy for a hungry baby.

[sandee33]

Ok, I will give it a try and hope it doesn't last too long!  Thanks for your advice!

[becj86]

I don't mean to wake her then, just to feed her when she wakes around those times, presuming she does.

[sandee33]

That's what I figured.    I'm going to try and see if feeding her 8 oz at her last feeding will help too.  Next week, we will start trying to give her rice cereal too as long as she seems to like it.   

[becj86]

Cool, just wanted to make sure

[sandee33]

Ok, sorry to keep bugging you but I'm getting so exhausted from her not sleeping well!  It really seems like she is getting worse and becoming more and more restless at night.  I'm not convinced that it is because she is hungry.  When I am feeding in her in the middle of the night she is only drinking 4 ozs. versus during the day when she drinks 6 oz.  Last night after I fed her around 3:45 she started waking up again about 5:30.  I was able to put her pacifier back in her mouth and get her to sleep until 7 but this is so frustrating with her waking up almost every two hours starting at around 1 am every night!  Should I give CIO another shot for a few nights?? 

[Erin M]

Should I give CIO another shot for a few nights??

Sweetie, our entire site is founded on the works and beliefs of Tracy Hogg who firmly believed that a baby should never be left to cry alone, as it breaks the bonds of trust between a parent and child.  Some more info here: Research on why 'cry it out' and 'controlled crying' is NOT recommended!

That being said, there's possibly something in your routine that needs some tweaking, or something else going on (discomfort, developmental stuff, etc) that is causing your wakings (though it would be perfectly normal for a baby to still need a night feed at this point).  If you would, please write down your current EASY routine in this format:
E
A
S
and we can give it a look and see what's going on (also include any night wakings in your EASY).  Also, it's helpful if we know how she goes to sleep (independently? taking a long time to settle? things like that) and what she's doing when she wakes at night.

[sandee33]

Here is her schedule:  Times are adjusted according to how she naps (which are usually 2 to 2 1/2 hours)

First feeding: Approx. 7:30
Awake: until about 9 or so
Sleep: 9 to 11:00-11:30
Eats: 11:00 or so
Awake: 1:00 ish
Sleep: 1:00 to 3:00 to 3:30
Eats: 3:00 or so
Awake: 5:00
Sleep: 5:00-5:45 or 6
Eats: about 6:30 (she usually doesn't want to eat right away when she wakes up from this nap)
Sleep: about 7:30
DF: 10:30 or 11 (usually only drinks about 2 to 3 oz)
Awake: 2 or 3 AM
Awake: at 5:30 eats about 4 to 5 oz.
Sleeps until 7:30 or so

She falls asleep on her own for her naps and bedtime.  I don't know how long it takes her to fall asleep, but she almost never cries when I lay her down and it is quiet.  So, I'm guessing she dozes off fairly quickly.  She is a very happy baby during the day and very content.  Hope that helps.

Sandee

[Erin M]

Can I ask, what is she doing at night when she wakes?  Is she fussy or does she just seem to be wide awake?  Or does she start out wide awake and then goes to fussy?  I suspect she actually might be getting too much daytime sleep -- it seems like according to your easy, she's getting 5-6 hours of day sleep and another 12 hours (ideally) at night? 

[sandee33]

At night when she wakes up it is a gradual fussiness.  She does a lot of grunting at first and then if I wait a few minutes without putting her pacifier in her mouth than she will start to cry.  If I put the pacifier back into her mouth once she starts grunting she usually goes back to sleep. 

[Erin M]

I might try waking her after 2 hours for her naps and 45 minutes for the cat nap, and see if it helps you at all.  The other thought is that the paci could be on its way to being a prop, but with her doing so well for her naps, I kind of doubt that. 

[sandee33]

Alright thanks!  I will give it a shot!